Psychological Cost, Gender, and Retention Among Engineering Students

This Full-Length Research Paper will analyze longitudinal data (2013-2018) from a large midwestern university's engineering school to better understand the relationships between students' gender, perceived psychological cost of pursuing an engineering major, course performance, and retention in engineering. There is great interest in determining factors that influence students' adherence to engineering majors and persistence to graduation to ultimately increase the number of engineering graduates [1], [2]. As STEM majors, engineering students face particular challenges including heavy workloads, competitiveness, and difficult material, and often must devote substantial time and effort to their studies [3]. Students' perceptions of the social and psychological losses incurred through allocating resources to their studies may influence engineering performance and persistence to graduation. These perceptions exert differential influence on female, as compared to male, students [4]. Perceived psychological cost has been shown to be a predictor of academic intentions (i.e. women's intentions to attend graduate school, [5]), and, along with identity and value variables, exerts an important influence on students' academic decision-making [6]. However, prior research has not investigated engineering students specifically. Factors unique to engineering programs may modulate these relationships. This paper will discuss an investigation of relationships between gender, perceived psychological cost, performance, and retention. Results will identify individual difference factors and interactions and inform the development of interventions designed to improve performance and retention rates. This study will analyze two cohorts of first-time full-time engineering students from 2013 and 2014 and their progress through the program. Student performance (letter grade) in beginning courses (math and engineering methods) as well as graduation year (when available) will be included in the analyses. Data visualization techniques will be applied to highlight the results, including flow charts, tables, graphs, and other visual representations. Specific outcome measures will include: • Perceived psychological cost of pursuing engineering as a major • Performance in beginning engineering courses, and • Persistence to graduation (retention). Initial t tests revealed significant differences in perceived psychological cost between female and male students; thus, further analyses will be conducted on each gender separately. Analyses will include binary logistic regressions with retention as the binary dependent variable and perceived psychological cost and course performance as independent variables. Linear regressions will also be conducted with course performance as the dependent variable and perceived psychological cost as the independent variable. Other variables of interest may be included if appropriate. [1] PCAST, President's Council on Advisors on Science and Technology. Washington, DC: Office of the President, 2012. [2] N. W. Klingbeil and A. Bourne, "A national model for engineering mathematics education: Longitudinal impact at wright state university," in 120th ASEE Annual Conference and Exposition, 2013. [3] S. J. Correll, E. Seymour, and N. M. Hewitt, "Talking about Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the Sciences," Contemp. Sociol., 1997. [4] J. L. Meece and D. P. Courtney, "Gender differences in students' perceptions: Consequences for achievement-related choices," in Student perceptions in the classroom. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., 1991, ch. 9, pp. 209–228. [5] A. Battle and A. Wigfield, "College women's value orientations toward family, career, and graduate school," J. Vocat. Behav., vol. 62, pp. 56–75, 2003. [6] T. Perez, J. G. Cromley, and A. Kaplan, "The role of identity development, values, and costs in college STEM retention," J. Educ. Psychol., vol. 331, pp. 1447–1451, 2014.